Herve Lamizana’s acrobatic catch-and-shoot in midair with the game clock expiring rallied the Yulon Luxgens from 1 down as they accomplished mission impossible by topping top-ranked Pure Youth Construction 79-78 in Game 1 of the SBL semi-finals.
The win at the University of Taipei Gymnasium in Tianmu last night gives the Automakers a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The improbable play came just moments after Pure Youth had gone ahead on what appeared to be the game-clinching two points by Chen Chien-en, before the video replay official reviewed Chen’s shot on a challenge by Yulon and agreed to put half a second back on the game clock to set up Lamizana’s late-game miracle.
Photo courtesy of the SBL
“I told my teammates to just throw the ball up at the rim and I will go get it, and that was what happened,” Lamizana said after the game with his teammates swarming the floor in disbelief.
What should have been a relatively easy win for the top-seeded Builders against the fourth-seeded Luxgens on paper was anything but, as the Automakers came out firing with a strong first quarter to grab a quick 18-12 lead, before adding to the margin by three in a fairly even second quarter to take a surprising 38-29 advantage at the half.
However, that did not rattle the three-time defending champs, as they chipped away at the deficit to reduce what was once a 12-point Yulon lead to eight in the third quarter before an 8-0 run early in the fourth knotted things up at 59-all with 8 minutes left to play.
The two teams swapped leads the rest of the way, with Chen Tzu-wei and Lu Cheng-rue converting from long range for Pure Youth and Yulon respectively, to set up what seemed to be the game-winner by Chen Chien-en when he calmly shook off a Yulon defender and nailed a jumper from the perimeter with the game clock winding down in an apparent victory for Pure Youth.
A prompt challenge by Yulon, who argued that there was still half a second remaining on the clock when Chen Chien-en made his shot, led to a video replay review by the game officials, who subsequently granted the Automakers one final possession with half a second on the clock to set the stage for Lamizana’s miraculous finish.
“It’s one of those things that comes with the game,” a stunned Pure Youth skipper Hsu Chin-che said after the game.
TAIWAN BEER 72, BRAVES 79
In the other semi-final, the Fubon Braves also rallied from a double-digit deficit with a superior second half to upend Taiwan Beer 79-72, thanks to a monstrous game from Liu Sheng-yao.
The softly spoken forward came off the Fubon bench with a team-high 19 points, including five three-pointers to help avoid what would have been a tough loss for the second-seeded Braves, who dominated the Brew Crew during the regular season with a commanding 4-1 record.
“I guess I was more in the zone in the second half, so I tried to knock them down whenever I had the chance,” Liu said after the game.
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